Internal combustion engine to go the way of the dodo?

I must say the idea of zipping around the city in an electric car is certainly appealing, what with the ever rising costs of fuel that shows no sign of a downward turn. Unfortunately, while many have tried, the biggest challenge facing anyone trying to build an electric car is still battery storage. Is there hope at the end of the tunnel, or is this but a pipe dream? The answer is pretty optimistic with a small startup company in Texas coming up with a car that requires a mere 5 minutes of charging in order to go around for 500 miles before exhausting its batteries. Dubbed the Zenn Electric Car, it uses technologies that will replace electrochemical batteries down the road.

Of course, not everyone paints such a rosy picture. Skeptics will say that such a battery is too good to be true as the patent details show off information that far exceed the abilities of current research in batteries for electric cars. While that might paint a picture of gloom over most people, there is always hope that the technology used would mature fast enough to create such an efficient vehicle. For starters, the key to this technology lies in the ultracapacitor that could be manipulated to release enough energy required by a car’s acceleration. Normally, researchers will try to improve ultracapacitors by widening the surface area of the metal sheets in order to allow more room where charges can attach. This technology from EEStor however, focuses on developing a more efficient non-conductive material between the metal sheets. This is made possible by a chemical known as barium titanate.

You don’t have to hold off purchasing that brand new car just yet as the Zenn Electric Car is still a long way off before it becomes the 22nd century Ford Model T.